Life-saving diving buoy

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides for a novel, but simply structured life-saving diving buoy that protects human lives by indicating presence of divers in a certain area while providing a dry storage compartment to store life-saving equipment useful to mark a submerged scuba diver&#39;s location while providing a dry compartment to store emergency and/or lifesaving equipment for when the diver comes to the surface and is far away from his boat.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to diving equipment and more particularlyto a combination of a dive buoy and emergency and/or life-saving drystorage compartment useful to mark a submerged scuba diver's locationwhile providing a dry compartment to store emergency or lifesavingequipment for when the diver comes to the surface and is at anunreachable distance from the nearest vessel or land. More particularlythe present invention relates to a flag and buoy apparatus that includesa body having a dry compartment for storage of life-saving equipment.The flag and buoy apparatus also includes a pole assembly that extendsvertically to support a flag, such as a diver's flag, the pole assemblybeing attachable to the body of the buoy. The body of the buoycomprising a hollow structure to provide a dry compartment for storageof life-saving equipment.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Dive buoys and flags are important safety devices used to warn boatersthat divers are in that area so that they may be alert for the divers orpreferably to stay clear of the area. A flag marker acts as a visibleindicator to boat operators and others at the surface of the water. Theflag itself traditionally includes a solid color background with adownward descending stripe. In some jurisdictions the use of dive flagsis required by law. The dive flag must be large enough and displayedhigh enough to be seen by boaters from at least about 100 yardsdistance.

Diving activities have actually become a favorable pastime everywhere,but, regrettably, accidents in connection with diving activities haveoften occurred, sometimes with fatal results. There have been a numberof accidents resulting in death involving situations wherein dive boatshave left behind divers in open waters. The majority of these accidentsrelated to divers being unintentionally left behind have occurred due toan inadvertent mistake. The sudden development of a dangerous situation,allows little time for a diver to cope with it. A diver involved cannotreact quickly enough to save his own life or assist his fellow diver.Such dangers can reasonably be accounted for by affected visibilityunderwater, deceptively characterized underseas formations, togetherwith abrupt, unpredictable and unexpected changes in temperatures,undercurrents, and atmospheric pressures undersea. The conventional andprevalent diving buoys are almost all designed to hold the mandatorydive flag, with practically no other life-saving provisions whatsoever.Thus, although they serve to alert others of the presence of a diver,they will be of little help if an unexpected incident should take placewhich leaves a diver behind at sea. As a professional diver I havelearned of various accidents which have driven me to develop somethingthat could assist a diver which has been unintentionally left behind orhas simply been lost due to undersea perils. Just as recent as thissummer, I learned of such an accident in my home town, wherein a diverwas lost in the current and where the crew did everything right, butstill the diver was not found. Having an apparatus and/or equipment likethis life-saving and/or emergency diving buoy could have probably aidedthis diver by providing him some sort of safety equipment like forinstance a: whistle, signal flares, a reflector or any other safetyequipment which could have help rescuers find him.

There have been prior attempts in the art to aid in the search andrescue of divers and/or persons left behind at sea, such as devices thatprovide surface communication and continuous GPS tracking between diversand a dive boat, diving backpacks, among others. However, they all failto solve the above mentioned problem in an efficient and economical way.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing adive buoy to both, alert boaters and rescuers of the presence of adiver, while providing safety and life-saving equipment for a diver whois at an unreachable distance from the nearest vessel or land, or thewaves or surge are heavy enough to prevent him from being spotted;potentially preventing many deaths due to these types of accidents.

To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, the present invention,briefly described, provides a dive buoy/dry compartment comprising afloatable device such as a buoy and an extended detachably mountedvertical pole to attach a flag, such as a dive flag. The buoy comprisinga hollow storage compartment that can be sealed to prevent water fromentering said storage compartment. Said storage compartment is designedto hold items such as safety and/or emergency life-saving equipment forpersons, such as divers. The buoy further comprising a heavier bottomsection in order to maintain the flag pole in a vertical orientation.Detachably mounted on the main body of the buoy is a dive buoy line ofappropriate length.

Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the buoy andlife-saving equipment apparatus is designed so as to ensure compliancewith the law, specifically wherein use of the dive flag is mandatory,while providing life-saving equipment to assist a person stranded atsea. This is achieved because when the person, for instance a diver, isleft behind and/or gets somehow lost, the diver can reach the surface ofthe water, unseal the storage compartment and use any of the life-savingtools which will be contained in said compartment. By providing astorage compartment within the buoy structure, the diver will haveaccess to potentially life-saving equipment without the need to carry iton him or herself, thus eliminating excess weigh for the diver, whileensuring safety and compliance with the law.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the buoycomprises a storage compartment which allows larger storage space thanmost diving carry on gear, thus providing potentially more safetyequipment available for the diver in an emergency situation while notcompromising the diver's freedom of movement due to excess gear.

Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present embodiment ofthe invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart upon a reading of the following detailed description of presentlypreferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the inventionwhen taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In thisrespect, it is to be understood that the embodiment of the invention isnot limited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not beregarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be describedin conjunction with the included drawings provided to illustrate and notto limit the invention, wherein like designations denote like elements,and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the preferred embodiment of the inventionshowing the storage compartment.

FIG. 3 shows an inside view of the storage compartment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This specification and the accompanying figures disclose the preferredembodiment as example of the invention. The drawings illustrated in thefigures are not to scale and are only intended to serve as illustratingexamples of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limitedto the embodiment illustrated. Numerous modifications, changes,variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the life-saving diving buoy 10 is shown with thedive flag 20 mounted horizontally into the life-saving diving buoy 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2 the life-saving diving buoy 10 is shown with thedry storage compartment structure 30 to hold the emergency and/orlife-saving equipment 40.

Referring now to FIG. 3 preferred embodiment of the life-saving divingbuoy 10 is shown with a dry storage compartment structure 30 showing theextended detachably mounted vertical pole 50 to attach a flag, such as adive flag 20. The life-saving diving buoy 10 comprising the dry hollowstorage compartment structure 30 that can be sealed to prevent waterfrom entering said storage compartment. Said dry storage compartmentstructure 30 is designed to hold items such as emergency and/orlifesaving equipment 40 for persons, such as divers. As shown in thisFIG. 3, the life-saving diving buoy further comprises a heavier bottomsection 60 in order to maintain the vertical pole 50 in a horizontalorientation. Detachably mounted on the main body of the life-savingdiving buoy is a dive buoy line of appropriate length.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the life-saving diving buoy10 is made from a floating material which can be selected from the groupcomprising at least one of foam, fiberglass, PVC plastic, or acombination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the According to one aspectof the invention, the life-saving diving buoy 10 further comprises aheavier bottom section in order to maintain the flag pole in ahorizontal orientation. Wherein said heavier bottom section is made froma material which can be selected from a group comprising at least onelead, steel, iron, sand or a combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, detachably mounted on themain body of the life-saving diving buoy 10 is a dive buoy line ofappropriate length.

Further in another embodiment of the invention, the vertical pole 50 isselectively removable in relation to the life-saving diving buoy 10.

Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, said dry storage compartmentstructure 30 is made of a material which can be selected from the groupcomprising at least one of: fiber glass, plastic, or a combinationthereof.

While a preferred embodiment of the life-saving diving buoy 10 has beendescribed in detail, it should be apparent that modifications andvariations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, toinclude variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and mannerof operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obviousto one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to thoseillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification areintended to be encompassed by the present embodiment of the invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the embodiment of the invention. Further, since numerousmodifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in theart, it is not desired to limit the embodiment of the invention to theexact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly,all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope of the embodiment of the invention.

1. A buoyant apparatus comprising: an upper portion; and a lower portionremovably coupled to said upper portion to define a hollow area.
 2. Thebuoyant apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a support elementremovably coupled to said upper portion.
 3. The buoyant apparatus ofclaim 2, wherein said support element comprises a telescopic element. 4.The buoyant apparatus of claim 2, further comprising visual indiciaselectively coupled to said support element.
 5. The buoyant apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein said visual indicia comprises a flag.
 6. The buoyantapparatus of claim 4, wherein said flag comprises a dive flag.
 7. Thebuoyant apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sealing arrangementbetween said upper portion and said lower portion preventing water fromentering said hollow area.
 8. The buoyant apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a dive buoy line detachably coupled to at least one of: saidupper portion and said lower portion.
 9. The buoyant apparatus of claim1, wherein said lower portion has a weight greater than said upperportion's weight.
 10. The buoyant apparatus of claim 1, wherein saidupper and lower portions comprise a buoyant material.
 11. The buoyantapparatus of claim 10, wherein said buoyant material comprises at leastone of: foam, fiberglass, and PVC.
 12. The buoyant apparatus of claim10, wherein said lower portion further comprises at least one of: lead,steel, iron, and sand.
 13. The buoyant apparatus of claim 1, whereinsaid hollow area is made from at least one of: fiberglass and plastic.14. The buoyant apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an audibleelement operably coupled to said buoyant apparatus.
 15. The buoyantapparatus of claim 8, further comprising a spooling arrangement coupledto said dive buoy line.